Need some help

[cheshrcarol]

Hi everyone, I'm hoping you guys can help me out and give me some ideas. I found out on Friday that one of my close college friends has thyroid cancer and will be having surgery today to remove her thyroid and 2 of the lymph nodes. Plus, she's be struggling for years with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which makes it harder for her to fight off diseases and recover. We're all really hopeful that everything will be okay, thyroid cancer has a 90-95% cure rate, but it's still extremely scary.

My friends and I would like to do something for her, we all live a few hours apart and would really like to let her know we're thinking about her and try and cheer her up and I need some more ideas. She'll be in the hospital for a few days now, and in a few weeks she has to go back for radiation treatment and will need to stay overnight. We were thinking about making a mixed CD or sending her some books or magazines. Does anyone have any other ideas? Or maybe some ideas for upbeat songs for the CD? Does anyone have any experience with this or know if she'll even be up to listening to music or reading after the surgery or radiation?

Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

[pisces2473]

Check your PMs...I sent you one before you made this thread :)

As for after surgery--everyone's different. Chris was alert and had no trouble coming out of the anesthesia. He didn't like reading in the hospital because every 2 mins someone would come in and interrupt him and he couldn't get through books. He did okay w/ magazines. He had a radio w/ headphones that he liked to listen to.

Also, you don't know what angle her head will be at--that may make things uncomfortable for her as well. After Chris' skin graft, he could only have his head at 30 degrees, even though the graft was on his stomach.

[cheshrcarol]

Thanks guys, those are good suggestions. I never would have even thought about her not being able to move her head to read! But I was thinking she would probably be really bored having to spend so much time in the hospital. Plus she's really depressed about being sick (when she already always has to deal with Chronic Fatigue) and having to miss so much work. As for music, she's the kind of person that just enjoys everything. As long as it's upbeat or funny, it can anything, hip hop, pop, even country probably. She does especially love the 80's though.

[sad555]

My best friend has lukemia and she is often in the hospital. A friend and I got a bunch of pictures together of all of us growing up. We brought them to a place where they make videos. I had them put the pictures onto a video. They put each picture in our order and to the music that we brought. At the end we had a screen with a private get better soon message. She really LOVED it! I've done this a couple times and people are so appreciative!!

[Phoenix]

Sorry, I'm a little late on jumping in! I'd suggest a stuffed animal, some flowers, or ballons would probably help brighten the room a bit as she recovers. Crossword puzzles or a word search to occupy the time?

[dazed]

i went through major surgery about 2 years ago and i know what a person in the hospital wants. as jen said, you don't know about the angle of the head so that will make a difference in what she'll be able to do. magazines are a good thing. nothing too heavy at all. i would suggest some nice uplifting music but nothing too loud and crazy. i remember i wanted pleasant sounding things and nothing too heavy to deal with for all senses. or maybe some music that reminds her of good times with you guys (again, nothing too loud and crazy). just something that will make her feel like part of the group and not an oddball. that is how i began to feel in the hospital and it made me sad. i really hope this helps and i hope your friend gets well soon!

[MetFanL]

oh, I forgot about this thread. I have this CD that one of my friends made for all of us when we graduated from college. It was all songs about friendship and, whenever I'm cranky or need a good cry, it nevers fails me... here are some of the songs (in no particular order)...

Rainbow Connection - The Muppets
I'l be there for you -- Bon Jovi
In My Life -- The Beatles (?)
Lean on Me -- Bill Withers
Now and Forever -- Carole King
Best of Friends -- Fox and the Hound Soundtrack
You've got a friend -- James Taylor

That should get you started... :)